Home > Publications database > Irradiation behaviour of advanced fuel elements for the helium-cooled advanced high temperature reactor (HTR) |
Report | FZJ-2016-06620 |
1990
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag
Jülich
Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/12981
Report No.: Juel-Spez-0565
Abstract: The design of modern HTRs is based on high quality fuel. A research & development programme has demonstrated the satisfactory performance in fuel manufacturing, irradiation testing and accident condition testing of irradiated fuel elements. This report describes the fuel particles with their low-enriched UO2 kernels and TRISO coating, i. e. a sequence of pyrocarbon, silicon carbide, and pyrocarbon coating layers, as well as the spherical fuel element. Testing was performed in a generic programme satisfying the requirements of both the HTR-MODUL and the HTR 500. With a coating failure fraction less than 2 x10$^{-5}$ at the 95% confidence level, the results of the irradiation experiments surpassed the design targets. Maximum accident temperatures in small, modular HTRs remain below 1600°C, even in the case of unrestricted core heatup after depressurization. Here, it was demonstrated that modern TRISO fuels retain all safety-relevant fission products and that the fuel does not suffer irreversible changes. Isothermal heating tests have been extended to 1800°C to show performance margins. Ramp tests to 2500°C demonstrate the limits of present fuel materials. A long-term programm is planned to improve the statistical significance of presently available results and to narrow remaining uncertainty limits.
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